March 29, 2013 - Continuation of David Daugherty's Story

Uncle David Russel Daugherty's Family Story is so interesting and really adds to our knowledge of the daily life in the South Dakota Prairies in the 1940's.  Again, I must add that I don't know the date of this writing.  This is the second 'episode' of a piece that my cousin Gwyn sent me.  This is the first time I've seen this particular writing, though I do have another substantial one that David sent me many years ago. 

"We had no running water, electricity, telephone, indoor plumbing, central heat or central air.  Our radio ran from a car battery which we would have to charge periodically.  Our water was obtained from the well which was close to the house.  We all drank from a common cup next to the bucket in the kitchen and washed from a common pan.  The pan's water was thrown out when it got too grimy.  Our garbage went into a 'slop bucket' next to the cook stove and was periodically fed to the pigs.  We would 'slop' the hogs.  We had a cook stove in the kitchen which burned coal and corn cobs.  We had no wood.  My mother made fresh bread almost daily.  There was always bread dough left out for rising. 

We also had a coal stove in the living room which was our main source of heat in the winter.  Dad would put oil cloth on the windows (instead of storm windows) in the winter.  The ice would accumulate on the window in the winter and make all sorts of interesting shapes.  The snow would blow in the winter and occasionally a drift would reach the eaves of the roof.  We would take a bath in the living room near the stove in the winter (once a week whether we needed it or not.)  We would wear long winter underwear (thermal) during the day and to bed at night.  The stove would go out at night so in the middle of the night there would be no heat.  Dad would get up very early and light the stove.  We would get up, do the chores and come into a hot breakfast of eggs, potatoes and toast or pancakes.  We would then catch the school bus to school (number 2, I think).  If a storm was expected, they sent us home early.  They did not take any chances with the South Dakota storm to avoid anyone getting stranded on a school bus."

I hadn't thought about the fuel that Gram and Grandpa had to keep themselves warm.  We burn wood at our house, along with electric heat, and we always are able to get piles of wood for the winter.  Sometimes that wood comes from our own gleaning of our land and other times we order it by the semi load.  It's usually long burning oak. 

Fred and Irene Daugherty, Circa 1940s

I  must admit, I've never made a loaf of bread.  Doing this is on my list of things I'd like to do, or at least try.  It's hard to imagine that for Gram Irene Carrington Daugherty this was something she had to do.  I also wonder what it would be like washing clothes in the winter...and making sure there was always hot water for baths and cleaning. 

This account of the taking baths is very pertinent, as we're re-doing our bathrooms and in the near future there will be a couple of days where bathtub use will be nil.  We'll have to have old fashioned sponge baths.  We're semi-dreading this, yet it is only an inconvenience for a short period of time. 

I remember the slop buckets from Uncle Al's farm.  Those pigs enthusiastically ate just about everything.  When little, I was a bit leary of not having a fence between them and me.  You never know, they might want a taste of me, too.  In yesterday's posting, David mentioned feeding the skim milk to the pigs and keeping the cream for the family.  I remember Aunt Beulah and her beautiful cream that she sold to the dairy in Delmont, SD.